Alanson



(No Model.)

A. 0.1ESTABROOK. n MANUPAGTURE OP BRUSHES. No. 278,660.v Patented May 29,1888.

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j UNITED STATES 3lfrrnnrr @Priora ALANsoN c. EsrABRooK, 0F FLORENCE, MASSACHUSETTS, Assieuon 'ro THE FLORENCE MANUFACTURNGLCOMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

i i MANuF'ACTuRE oF BRUSHES.

SPECIFICATION. forming part of Letters `Patent No. 278,660, dated May 29, 1883.

Application filed December 13, 18852. (No model.)

.To al L 'Lc/wm it may concern:

Beitknown thatI, ALANsoN C. EsTABRooK,

, of Florence, in the town of Northampton,`

county of Hampshire', and State of Massachu- 5 setts, have invented certainfnew and useful Improvements in the Manufacture of Brushes; and I do hereby declare that .the following speeificationtaken in connection with the" drawings furnished and forming a part of the 1o same, is a clear, true, and complete description i of the several features of my invention.

' The object of said improvements is to provide for a better union of the tufts of bristles `withfth'e solid back towhich they are united 15 than has, as I believe, been practicable to obtain i )rior to m said invention -i'andfm H said im-` provements have a special value in connection with and are limited to that well-known class of brushes which involve the embedding of the 2O bristles in plastic material which subsequently,

hardens.

My invention, consists, mainly` in a novel method` of developing upon the tuftsof bristles a sin ged head orheads at the inner ends there- 2 5 of. It is to beunderstood that I am well aware of the suggestions contained in United States Letters PatentNo. 20,226, issued May 11,1858, to J. HuTatem, as to the securin g by singeingof bristles separately and permanently inserted 30 into aback-plate of a brush, said platehavin g been previously perforated or drilled to receive them, and also that said patent recites said method of securing said separate bristles as an alternative with or to the use of cementfor i 3,5A the same purpose; and I am also aware of the i cial effort,and they are therefore practically freefrom liability of displacement during the use of the brush. I develop these artificial heads 5c., on the tufts of bristles by the action `of heat,

as from a heavy spreading flame of gas, While the adjacent portion of the bristles is protected, i and in such a manner that the ends only of the bristles are sin ged or seared sufficiently to melt them, and thereby to form the strong integral 55 heads desired. Itis obviously essential that the action o'f the heat4 or flame should be so limited that only the extreme innerends ofthe' bristles-should be affected thereby, and I have' therefore provided for so shielding the main 6o portion of the bristles that onlytheproperportions thereof' will be affected by the heat'or flame, as is desired for my'purposes.

To more fully describe my invention, I will refer to the accompanying drawings, in which 65 `Figure I is a top viewof a set of bristles as they are usually set up in a block for producinga circular brush havin gacomposition back. Fig. 2 is a lateral vertical section of the same with a protecting shield added thereto, pre- 7o paratory to developing heads ou the bristles.

Fig. 3 isa similar view with the heading-flame applied to the bristles. Fig. 4 is a view-of the same with the protecting-shield removed.

rIhe manufacture of brushes involving the 7 5- embedding of the bristles in a plastic mate rial which subsequently hardens involves the use of a base-block., A, provided with a complete series of holes of proper size and depth to receive the tufts of bristles, substantially 8o as shown and described in the Letters Patent issued to me June 19, 1866, reissued October 19, 1869, No. 3,676. v I also employ upon top of the said base-b1ocka ring-plate, B, having an opening in the centercorresponding to that 8 5- portion of the baseblock which Ais drilled, and into the holes of which the tufts of bristles are inserted. Suitable dowels and holes enable the proper location of the ring-plate upon the base-block. The thickness of this plate B is 9o `slightly' greater than thelength of that portion of the bristles which is to be embedded inthe plastic material.

As seen in Figs. 2 and 3, I employ a detachable ,protecting-shield, C, which protects 9 5 the bristles, except at their ends, from theaetion of a flame, preferably applied through a blow-pipe; or, in lieu thereof, a' piece of metal may be used, if so heated that when placed closely to the bristles it will cause them to roo A melt, and thereby develop the desired heads a.`| of plastic material, and embody also a per- 4o large for the tufts with their heads to pass This shield C also protects from smoke and grease the upper surface of the base-block, which usually subsequently serves as a part of the die used for completing the brush.' Said shield may be composed of thin sheet /metal in the form of a properly-perforated plate; but that would involve either holes so freely through when the plate was lifted, or the reinsertion of each tuft carefully into a dieblock preparatory to the application of the plastic material or compound; or said shield in many cases can becoinposed of narrow strips of metal, with recesses at each edge, so that when placed side by side coincident recessesl I can economize by the use of the shield which is preferred by nie-viz a layer of sand or silex, granulated glass, or other granulated matter which is readily maintained in a dry, loose, or i'lnidlike condition, andnot readily affected by heat. I prefer dry sand, which is poured at the center of the ring-plate B, and thereafter the bristles are properly and uniformly exposed bypassing a soft brush over the surface of the sand. After the searing of the bristles the ring-plate is removed, the sand poured oii' into a receptacle, and the dieeblQQk brushed off clean in and aroundthebristles with a soft brush,earev being 'taken,nofcourse, not tofunduly-d-isturb` the/heads or to separate thosem'hiclrhave'become Weld'ed'or joined/to It isolvious that, in the manufacture of that class of brushes which are composed in part forated plate in which the tufts of bristles are mounted, the ring-plate and protecting-shield, Whether the latter be of sand or otherwise, can be used as with the die-block A; and it is equally obvious that said sand-,shield may be successfully employed in the manufacture of that class of brushes which embody a perforated plate composed of plastic material hardened, bored, and thereafter, with'the bristles in place, united to the plastic material which constitutes the main portion of the brush back or handle. Having thus described my invention, I clai as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- 1. The process of developing heads on tufts of bristles for brushes, involving the use'of plastic material, substantially as hereinbefore described, by rst setting up a series of tuftsof bristles into the positions to be occupied by them in a brush, then applying a. shield to all of said tufts for protecting them adjacent to their inner ends, then searing or singeing said bristles, and nally removing the shield for permitting the application of the plastic material.

2. The apparatus for developing integral heads'upon bristles or tufts of bristles, consisting of the combination of the base-block, ring-plate, and protecting-shield, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with the base-block and the-ring-plate, of a protectin g-shield composed of loose granulatedimaterial, substantially as described. i

ALANSON C. `ESTABROOK. Witnesses:

D. W. GooDELL, T. S. GRossMAN. 

